Mayor to give update on fire that ripped through Gastown building

Mayor Kennedy Stewart, Fire Chief, Karen Fry, and Vancouver Police Department Inspector Dale Weidman will update the public with more details about a four-alarm fire that destroyed a heritage building in Gastown Monday.

The blaze ripped through the four-storey Winters Hotel at 203 Abbott Street. The building contained an SRO, a women’s shelter, and several businesses, including restaurant The Flying Pig.

Several people had to be rescued from the burning building, and local non-profits have put out a call for donations to help the people displaced by the fire. BC Emergency Health Services told Daily Hive five people were taken to hospital — two in serious condition and. three in stable condition.

By Monday afternoon, the building’s exterior remained but the roof collapsed the inside was completely charred.

Brutal… new overhead perspective of the Gastown building ravaged by fire. What’s left of the tinder box. 📸: Jordan Saniuk pic.twitter.com/98NpPBHW42

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) April 12, 2022

Chelsea Langenstam/Daily Hive Vancouver

Firefighters declined to give an update until the scheduled news conference. There’s still no word on what sparked the blaze.

The news conference is scheduled to start at 12:15 pm and it will be livestreamed on the City of Vancouver’s Facebook page.

Here are more images of firefighters battling the flames:

If you want to make donations for the residents of the recent tragic fire in Gastown please drop off at my constituency office first & commercial Monday-Friday, Bette’s boutique main and Cordova or contact @FreeOfViolencez. Men/womens clothing, pet supplies toiletries, etc needed pic.twitter.com/8cYPO9VB87

— Melanie Mark (@melaniejmark) April 12, 2022